Mirror Image
"Mirror Image" is the twenty-second episode and Miami Vice's fourth season finale. The episode premiered on May 6, 1988, repeated on October 28, 1988 (final repeat of the fourth season) and is the only cliffhanger in the series. Summary Crockett is presumed dead after an explosion on a dealer's boat, but survives with amnesia, believes he's his alter-ego Sonny Burnett and begins working for a drug boss. It is the third episode of the Sonny Burnett Arc. Plot Crockett (still reeling from Caitlin's murder) and Tubbs are observing a drug lord summit with Alejandro Gutierrez (Antonio Fargas) and Miguel Manolo (Tony Azito), Crockett (as Burnett) is trying to bring them together so they can go at each other. While Crockett is fishing, he tells Gutierrez he has info on Manolo's plan to squeeze him out, but is stopped by Manolo's men (Manolo isn't on the boat), and Gutierrez toasts to peace and prosperity to both groups... all the while Gutierrez has rigged a bomb to explode on Manolo's boat, he goes to Crockett to get him to leave, but Crockett is too involved in the fish to take the hint, and the boat explodes. Castillo wants Crockett's files turned over to Homicide as they are handling the case, the whole team is stunned at what happened to him. Tubbs gets information on Manolo to begin his own investigation. Meanwhile, Crockett is at an unspecified location with a concussion that has brought about amnesia, but Gutierrez wants him better ASAP. When Crockett begins to regain consciousness, the on-site doctor lets him know he's Sonny Burnett, a drug dealer, and warns him about Gutierrez. Burnett (whose memory is still foggy) arrives at Manolo's place in Fort Lauderdale and meets Polly Wheeler (Julia Roberts), Manolo's assistant. Manolo and Burnett get together and see his cockfighting birds, and wants Burnett to get to the bottom of how his peace conference got sabotaged. Gutierrez (who has a cast on his arm from the explosion) is still trying to get out of him what he was about to tell him on the boat, but Burnett cannot remember what it was. Tubbs goes to Manolo's Miami locale and finds a bunch of mail, including one to a Doris Gumble, who tells Tubbs Manolo moved up to Lauderdale. Gutierrez continues to badger Burnett (interrupting a conversation with Polly) about the boat info when he tells him he lit a cigar at the hospital with his "bad" arm. Manolo is told by Burnett Gutierrez was the one behind the explosion. Tubbs takes some time off to continue his own investigation, despite Castillo's insistence that Homicide handle it--but wants Tubbs to find the body, as it hasn't turned up. Burnett (at a meet) shoots down a potential rip-off of Manolo's drugs and throws the other two in the trunk of a car. Polly sees Burnett to let him know he's expected with Manolo in an hour. Manolo wants Gutierrez to take Burnett with him to meet the Arzamenis, who have set up a deal with him. Tubbs stops by Lauderdale PD and meets his old friend Sgt. Rolando Jordan (Brent Jennings), and Detectuiv Jimmy Hagovitch (Chris Cooper), and wants help on Manolo. Jordan says there's a leak in the department regarding Manolo and IAD has the lid clamped on it. While waiting for the Arzamenis (which don't show because no deal exists), Burnett gets a call from Manolo, and Burnett shoots Gutierrez dead, the bullet shattering the glass in the car. Manolo is pleased with Burnett's work up to now, and Tubbs gets a call from Jordan about Gutierrez's death, who directs him to Manolo's art gallery, where Tubbs meets Polly, who asks for a meet with Manolo (while he watches/listens) and leaves his number. Tubbs asks Jordan for $10K in front money, Jordan agrees--but only if he wears a vest. Hagovitch (who is the leak source) contacts Manolo to tell him that both Burnett and Cooper are cops, and arranges to have Cooper meet in an alley behind his gallery, to see where Burnett's loyalties lie. Tubbs arrives, only to be met--and shot--by Burnett. Burnett begins to have strange dreams of his former life, seeing Castillo and Switek in black, seeing first Tubbs then himself in a coffin, and awakens in bed with Polly. Tubbs is OK, saved by the vest, and knows he saw his partner shoot him, Tubbs calls Castillo while Hagovitch calls Manolo to confirm Tubbs is alive, and that he needs to do what he has to. Manolo sets Burnett up with a deal and Hagovitch will help him. Castillo checks with Lauderdale IAD and they have fingered Hagovitch as the leak, but he's not there, he's with Burnett at the marina, offering to be his partner. When Hagovitch confronts Burnett about being a cop, Burnett shoots Hagovitch dead and drives off in a boat with Tubbs calling out to him from the gallery. Cast *Don Johnson as Metro-Dade Detective James "Sonny" Crockett/Sonny Burnett *Philip Michael Thomas as Metro-Dade Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs *Saundra Santiago as Metro-Dade Detective Gina Calabrese *Michael Talbott as Metro-Dade Detective Stan Switek *Olivia Brown as Metro-Dade Detective Trudy Joplin *Edward James Olmos as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo Guest Stars *Chris Cooper as Fort Lauderdale Detective Jimmy Hagovitch *Antonio Fargas as Alejandro Gutierrez *Brent Jennings as Fort Lauderdale Sergeant Rolando Jordan *Tony Azito as Miguel Manolo *Julia Roberts as Polly Wheeler Co-Starring *Ellen Beck, Robert LaGamba, and Michael George Owens as Interns *Gino Cabanas and Robert Escobar as Manolo Goons *Artie Malesci as Diver *Jon Matchen as Hood *Camille Sands as Doris Gumble *Freddie St. Jude as Business Suit Notes *This is Jan Hammer's final musical appearance on Miami Vice. Tim Truman will take over in the fifth season, but Hammer's theme would remain. Some of Hammer's classic Vice tracks are featured in this episode, including the music when Crockett and Tubbs meet Grocero in the smoke-filled room (used during Burnett's dealings with Manolo and Gutierrez, as well as when he first wakes up after the explosion) in the episode "Smuggler's Blues", "Rico's Blues" (when Rico is visiting Manolo's Miami HQ), and the final Hammer track to be featured (during the scene where Crockett/Burnett drives off in his speedboat with Tubbs calling out to him) is a mixture of the haunting melody first used when Tubbs remembers his brother's death in "Brother's Keeper" and Crockett's Theme. *This was Miami Vice's ''only "cliffhanger" episode. Previous to 1980 "cliffhangers" (shows that carryover to the next season) were unheard of in television. After ''Dallas' '' "Who Shot J.R.?" cliffhanger in 1980 captured the nation's imagination, networks began using cliffhangers as a way to pique interest in a series over the summer reruns. (Of course, sometimes cliffhangers were used and then a show was cancelled, leaving fans and viewers "hung out to dry", as was the case with Michael Mann's other television series ''Crime Story). *Antonio Fargas (Huggy-Bear) is the third member of the cast of Starsky & Hutch to be involved in Miami Vice. Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky) and David Soul (Hutch) directed several early episodes of the series. *Manolo's gallery looks like the house used by Tony Amato in Season 1's "No Exit". *In the scene near the beginning of the episode with the bomb aboard the boat hosting the meeting between the drug barons, it's very obvious that a model boat was used to depict the explosion. *The episode was repeated one week before the fifth season premiere "Hostile Takeover". *The visual style of this episode is more formal and mannered than recent season 4 episodes, recalling the deco landscapes, buildings and careful and closed compositions particularly of Season 1. Music *"Bedbugs and Ballyhoo" by Echo & the Bunnymen (at Manolo's party) *"Money God" by Big Pig (Burnett meets and shoots Tubbs in alley) *"Alpha Centauri" by Tangerine Dream (Burnett dream sequence with Tubbs in coffin) Quotes *"That's B-U-R-N-E-double-T!" -- Burnett to Hagovitch before shooting him down '' *"''SONNY!" -- Tubbs to Burnett as he leaves in the boat Category:Miami Vice Season 4 Episodes